Standing alone and unchanging,
one can observe every mystery.
Present at every moment and ceaselessly continuing--
This is the gateway to indescribable marvels.
--Lao Tzu

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Sunday morning post

I've decided to commit from now on to a Sunday morning post.

Much of my standing practice involves writing. I committed to standing in large part because I believe that it helps me with my creativity. But standing has also become my spiritual practice. I believe in a very concrete way that I am connected to a vitality that empowers me to make the best decisions for myself and my son.

The more I stand. The more diligently I practice, the better our lives become. I no longer look at this as an escape from responsibility. Early morning practice is the most responsible action I can take for both of us. It gives me vitality, strength, and above all it gives me an internal locus of control. The more I stand, the more firmly I believe that my actions, habits and beliefs determine my destiny, and the destiny of my child.

I have seen the results of cumulative action in my standing practice, in my writing practice. Recently I've taken up a computer programming practice, and a productivity practice. It has always been too easy for me to fall into disorganization and despair. To lose the thread that reminds me of how much control I have over my life. Keeping these journals helps me to track my success and my failures. It can be humbling, but it liberates me from all the things that once held me back: confusion, chaos, lethargy and stress. I'm am so much more free now from the blocks and ruts that were once an inevitable part of my life. My life has structure and discipline, and this Sunday morning post is my testimony to that.

An Adventure in Standing Still

This is a record of my long and wide ranging meditation journey, from Zhan Zhuang, a Chinese standing meditation, to Tergar, a non-secular meditation community established by the Tibetan teacher and monk, Mingyur Rinpoche.